Photography by Coen Wubbels Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world as well as the largest Stan country of Central Asia, sharing borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Vast and empty, it’s possible to traverse more than 1,200 miles of continuous steppes, home to the traditional nomads who, until the Soviet…
Chris Scott’s Trans Morocco Trail Self-Guided Route Has Launched
A new adventure travel route, the Trans Morocco Trail, has launched, offering explorers the chance to experience Morocco’s diverse landscapes through a 3,000-kilometer self-guided route. The trail runs from the Mediterranean port of Nador to Cap Draa on the Atlantic coast and is free to download. The route is designed for independent cyclists, motorcyclists, and…
How I Fell In Love With Winter Overland Travel
Standing on the frozen Arctic Ocean, clad from head to toe in winter gear, my beard froze as my convoy mate informed me that it was -50°F in Tuktoyaktuk, where my overland vehicle was parked. A grin spread across my face, and I felt a wave of satisfaction and tempered elation course through my warm…
The Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion
It’s a Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion Thing! Each year, thousands of Jeep enthusiasts descend on the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge to meet vendors, stroll the show & shine, and connect with other brand enthusiasts. The event is also fairly priced at only $20 for an adult and $10 for children. Presented by Hankook Dynapro Tire…
The Perseids Are Here with a Message from Outer Space
Comet Swift-Tuttle rockets around the solar system at a mind-bending speed of 134,000 mph (slightly faster than my Land Rover, but not by much). It needs just 133 years to make a round trip of the sun, and it is a truly big boy, by far the largest near-Earth object in our neighborhood—nearly 16 miles…
Oregon’s Alvord Desert | Overland Routes
The silence of the Alvord Desert is all-consuming. The column of quiet that descends on the dry lakebed in the evenings reaches through you. Sounds that would be swallowed by the regular cacophony of a workaday wilderness are amplified, like they’ve been plugged into a Marshall stack—the rumble of a pickup truck on the county…
Jeep Beach 2024
Each year, tens of thousands of Jeep enthusiasts descend on Daytona Beach, Florida for the annual (2024) Jeep Beach event. This is considered one of the largest Jeep gatherings in the world, an evolution over the past 21 years to its current form. The event includes trail rides, beach drives, training, obstacle courses, mud bogs,…
Texas-Based Merus Adventure Park, the First of Many
For years, I have dreamed of building an overland camp where people could come to relax and reconnect, a break from the road in the middle of an adventure across continents. My dreams are small compared to that of the Merus team. The Merus Adventure Park, nestled in the heart of Palo Duro Canyon in…
South Africa’s Namakwa 4×4 EcoTrail | Overland Routes
Photography by Expedition Overland and Expedition Rove Spanning over 600 kilometers through South Africa’s Northern Cape, the Namakwa EcoTrail is the country’s longest official 4×4 route. The title comes with a certain prestige, attracting those who seek bragging rights associated with completing the route in South Africa. To be fair, though, most trek to this…
Expedition Portal Staff’s Favorite Trips of 2023
With international tourism reaching over 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, 2023 marked an enthusiastic and eager return to the travel scene for many of us, both domestically and internationally. Overland Journal publisher and co-founder Scott Brady began his much-anticipated long-axis Trans-Africa continental crossing in the capable Ineos Grenadier, while…
Crossing the Simpson Desert in the Footsteps of a Legend
I wake with a splitting headache, my body hurts all over, and I feel disconnected from reality. It takes a full 20 minutes to overcome heavy lethargy before I can crawl out of the swag and confirm Katie feels no better. With nets over our heads to block the unrelenting blowflies, we only feel worse…
Spomeniks :: An Overland Quest Through the Balkans
Photography by Enrique Pacheco Western Europe is not exactly a paradise for overlanders due to restrictive laws regarding off-roading and free camping. In turn, countries on the continent’s Eastern side, especially those in the Balkans, abound in what their occidental counterparts lack: looser regulations and fewer off-pavement prohibitions, with vast areas of stunning nature still…
Overland Routes :: Chile’s Atacama Desert
Photography by Coen Wubbels Unless you fly in, you will have seen a fair share of the Atacama Desert by the time you reach Iquique, whether your Pan-American overland journey takes you southbound or northbound through Chile. No matter how smooth the asphalt that cuts straight through the driest non-polar desert in the world, 995…
BMW Motorrad Days Americas
BMW will host the first BMW Motorrad Days Americas during the Barber Vintage Festival in Leeds, Alabama, from October 6-8 this year. Join them to celebrate BMW’s first century of motorcycle manufacturing. BMW Centenary It’s been a 101 years since BMW chief designer Max Friz put the first full-scale BMW motorcycle on the drawing board….
South Dakota’s Black Hills: A Land of History and Heartache
Editor’s Note: This South Dakota article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Spring 2023 Issue. Small and isolated, South Dakota’s Black Hills seemed the ideal place for a self-imposed writing retreat. I’ve been working on a book for years and hadn’t so much as typed a single letter in the manuscript for over four months. I…
Spotting the One-Horned Rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park :: Destinations
There are only two places in the world where the one-horned rhinoceros still lives in the wild: Nepal and India. With 2600 of these incredible beasts in Kaziranga National Park in Assam, India, you can’t visit the park without spotting at least one of them. The 166-square-mile park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one…
Five Things to Know About Overlanding the UK
The UK is an absolute riot to drive through. Twisty, narrow roads bordered by mossy stone walls lead to lush glens filled with bluebells, quaint towns whispering of a captivating past, and seaside coves that stretch for miles. Charmingly, it’s impossible to escape the bahs of baby sheep in the spring. Whether you’re passionate about…
Nat Geo’s Incredible “Wild Life” Documentary Premiers April 14th, 2023
Anyone who has had the great pleasure of exploring Patagonia and the terminus of the Andes mountain range in southern Chile will know that this is a land of unspeakable beauty and natural abundance, a simultaneously powerful and fragile diverse range of ecosystems. There are two ways to exploit this land’s natural resources – one…
Video of the Week :: Return to Namibia
If you listened to the Overland Journal Podcast recently or saw Joe Fleming’s stunning photo essay from his moto adventure in Southern Africa just a few weeks ago, you probably have a little Africa travel itch you need to scratch. I know I do. It’s almost impossible to take a bad photograph in Namibia, and…
Destinations :: The Ceramic Gulf of Turkey
The Ceramic Gulf in Southwestern Turkey is a perfect year-round travel destination. In summer there is plenty of inviting water to go for a swim and cool off, while in winter the temperatures are pleasant enough to go for a hike. Locally known as the Gulf of Kerme or Gulf of Gökova, the bright blue…